Per Gessle and Micke Syd Andersson on P4 Extra

Per and Micke Syd were guests on Swedish Radio P4 Extra. Listen HERE! Their part starts at 28:40 and lasts until 53:35.

Reporter Titti Schultz asks the guys how long they have known each other. They say too long. Titti asks Micke if he worked at a bar before and what he did there. Micke Syd says he did everything except for doing the washing up.

Titti is curious if it is really going to be the last tour and the guys confirm it is. She asks how many summer songs they promise to release on the new album. Per says he doesn’t know, but there will be a lot of summer songs on tour.

Det är över nu is played and Titti shares with the listeners that Micke was air drumming in the studio during the song. Per says Det är över nu and also Sommartider, Det hjärta som brinner or Tylö sun for example are songs that can’t be rehearsed, because it’s a bit comic without an audience.

The guys say it’s the ’90s when they sounded the best. It was the period when they came back for the first time, with songs like Det är över nu, Kung av sand, Juni, juli, augusti, Gå & fiska!

Titti says one of her absolute favourite GT songs is Juni, juli, augusti and asks the guys if they have any favourite GT songs. Micke Syd says Juni, juli, augusti is much fun to play live. Per picks Faller ner på knä.

Talking about the new album, Samma skrot och korn, Per says it’s a bit more adult, more thoughtful and also sentimental and sad vs. their previous albums. It’s very nice pop music. The title refers to the band members. The guys recorded it in France and they went through a creative process that couldn’t have happened in a studio in Stockholm.

Regarding the tour Per and Micke say there will be some unexpected happenings, surprises, but they can’t tell anything about it yet. Micke Syd jokes there will be pole dance. Haha.

Titti asks if the guys are sentimental and feel nostalgic now that all this comes to an end. Micke Syd says he became sentimental already in France. At last there is a song again that HE sings, Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Titti asks if she can get a little snippet a capella. Per jokes that then he has to go away.

To the question if they get together often, the guys replied that they didn’t meet the five of them together since the last tour, but the recording sessions in France were fantastic and much fun.

About the new single, Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten, Per says there is a little Van Morrison turn in it, which is a little unexpected. Titti says this must be the very first song about a Fluortant. The song is played on the radio.

Titti asks Per if he could write a song like Flickorna på TV2 today and Mr. G replies he couldn’t. Titti asks if they will play it this summer. Per says for sure, because it’s great to play it. Regarding the setlist Per says they circulated a list of 51 songs that they will narrow down to 25-26 songs. There are 17-18 songs that they MUST play, but then they also want to include surprises and songs from the new album. The concerts are planned to be 2 hours long.

Titti thinks fans in the ’80s were different than fans today. Per says they are not, it’s juts that we live in a different era. It’s just that there is social media and mobile phones nowadays. Titti asks if there are groupies around, Micke Syd says no, they never really had the talent for that, to have groupies waiting for them at the hotel.

Faller ner på knä is played, but cut short due to news.

Titti asks Micke Syd if he has become a better drummer over the years. Micke says he has, just not technically, but how he plays. When he plays elsewhere, even when he played for Roxette in June Afternoon or She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, it’s different vs. when he plays in GT. In Gyllene Tider it’s like coming home. In France for example the recordings went so fast, because they went with the flow.

Titti asks how they know a song is ready. Per says a song develops all the time. When they play it live it becomes different. He thinks sometimes it’s a pity that one writes a song, they record it in the studio and take it to an audience only later. It could be the other way around, playing the song for an audience 20-30 times before recording it.

 

New Gyllene Tider book in the making

As Hallandsposten informs, there will be a new book about Gyllene Tider. It will be written by Jan-Owe Wikström (Wicke) and photographed by Anders Roos. Both names guarantee a wonderful end result. Title of the book is said to be Gyllene Tider 2.019 – en sista refräng.

6 years ago, Jan-Owe and Anders created the book, Alla tiders Gyllene Tider. Anders says it was like being a fly on the wall while he was around taking photos of the band on tour and in the studio and he thinks it’s awesome to have the guys’ confidence so that he can do his job calmly.

Wicke is the person who actually wrote the very first Hallandsposten article about a young band, Gyllene Tider more than 40 years ago, on 8th July 1978. He has been following the guys ever since and wrote books, as well as a lot of articles about them.

Jan-Owe and Anders spent some time with GT in France this year while they were recording their last album and will be there with Per, Micke Syd, MP, Anders and Göran on tour. They will accompany the Golden Guys on several shows, especially in key locations like the premiere gig in Halmstad, then Ullevi in Gothenburg and they go to Stockholm as well. They of course won’t miss Fredrikstad, Norway, the last concert either.

Wicke says the book will be a time travel, about all the years passed and since a big part of GT’s history is about others’ experiences related to Gyllene Tider’s songs and concerts, they will also ask other artists to share their memories.

It’s not only artists who will be asked to tell what GT means to them. Fans can also contribute to the book by sharing their personal memories. Anders says they already got appr. 70 mails. They will choose some stories to be published in the book, but it’s important that those picked anecdotes represent various events and happenings. As a fan, you can send your stories to: minnen@gyllenetider.com. Per says any craziness is encouraged! 😉

It’s going to be an intense summer not only for Gyllene Tider and their fans, but also for Wicke and Anders who have GT’s full support in this project. Per says it feels safe and great to have exactly this duo writing about the band. He looks very much forward to the book and hopes he can get a signed copy. Haha.

 

Gyllene Tider’s last album to be released in June

The waiting is almost over! Gyllene Tider have announced today the release date of their farewell album and the first single from it.

As the press release says, in March 2019, Per Gessle, Mats “MP” Persson, Anders Herrlin, Göran Fritzon and Micke Syd Andersson – also known as Gyllene Tider – gathered to record their farewell album in the recording studio La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy de Provence in southern France. On Friday, 14th June, the result will see the light of day as Gyllene Tider’s 7th and last studio album, Samma skrot och korn (”Birds of a feather”). But already on 10th May it’s time for a taster in the form of the single Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten (”I dreamed I met the dental hygienist”).

Per Gessle had spent most of 2018 writing new golden gems such as Skrot och korn (”Birds of a feather”), Henry har en plan på gång (”Henry has a plan in progress”) and Det kändes inte som maj (”It didn’t feel like May”). A total of 15 songs were recorded, of which 14 made it to the album – by accident, exactly as many as The Beatles used to have on their LPs.

And for the first time since the intro track on Gyllene Tider’s debut album, a cover has been added. That time it was ”Skicka ett vykort älskling”, Gyllene Tider’s powerpop version of Shocking Blue’s hit, ”Send Me A Postcard”. Now it’s Sven-Ingvar’s 1965 single Någon att hålla i hand (”Someone to hold a hand”) (of which Brad Newman made the original version, ”Somebody to Love”) that gets a Gyllene tackle.

Per Gessle says:

In the past you often played some covers to show where you came from and pay tribute to your role models. That’s why we did ”Skicka ett vykort”, ”Tylö Sun”, ”Marie i växeln”, ”Vill ha ett svar” etc. You manage a music heritage and then you try to do something of your own of what you love.

And what do they say about the album in general?

Micke Syd Andersson says:

The last album was one of the most fun ever to record. We have a special contact where you just start playing a song and hardly need to look at each other.

Per Gessle adds:

It has become exactly as I hoped: you can hear that it’s a band that has maintained its sound, but still that it has actually been 40 years since they started out.

After four decades, an already legendary Swedish pop band says goodbye with an album that miraculously indicates continued top shape, even though the band has not even existed for long periods. And with a farewell tour that currently sells out more and more places, yet another Swedish music summer will be dominated by Halmstad’s pearls. 40 years of Gyllene Tider reaches its climax here and now.

Tracklist:

  1. Skrot och korn
  2. Det kändes inte som maj
  3. Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten
  4. Någon att hålla i hand
  5. Vid hennes sida
  6. Aftonstjärna
  7. Vanliga saker
  8. Bjud till!
  9. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
  10. Mannen med gitarr
  11. Bara i en dröm
  12. Henry har en plan på gång
  13. Allt det andra
  14. Final

You can already pre-order the album (CD-hardbook, standard black gatefold 2LP, limited edition gatefold coloured 2LP) at the usual sites: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.


Photo by Anders Roos

Where to end the Gyllene Tider farewell tour?

Most fans are wondering why Gyllene Tider would finish their farewell tour in Norway. It makes no sense at all. I honestly think the last gig won’t happen in Norway and of course I’m not the only one having such thoughts. Göteborgs-Posten published an article today written by Johan Lindqvist. Johan writes in details about why Gyllene Tider should end their last tour in Sweden and he points out where exactly that last show should happen. He asks the tour to be re-planned. Haha. If you ask me, it’s surely already planned, it’s just not known to us. Yet. 😉

Johan highlights Per Gessle is a man who likes good planning and order. He appreciates a great dramaturgy when it comes to writing the story of his bands. He has also read enough rock biographies in order to know how a nice finish should be directed. Therefore, it’s completely incomprehensible that he put his name on a tour plan where Gyllene Tider will celebrate his long career with a gig in Fredrikstad, Norway. I have to agree with Johan.

Johan says he has nothing against Norway, the country has good skiing places, but when Sommartider is played for the last time, it should happen in Sweden.

Public release of tickets for the tour is 9 am on 5th February. Johan doesn’t think the tour will sell out immediately, but the premiere gig in Halmstad and the last Swedish show planned for 3rd August in Gothenburg have a high chance to sell out faster than Per can say ”allsångsfest”. Haha. I have to agree with Mr. Lindqvist again. It would be quite reasonable to change the date of the concert and add it after Norway. But it’s not only the date, the venue should be changed too. To Ullevi, of course. GT made success there before and will do it again. Although many will see the band during summer, there will still be many who want to join in and fill Ullevi to pay tribute to Gyllene Tider during their last night.

Johan checked and Ullevi is booked only for Metallica and Summerburst this summer. So there is surely a chance to add GT in August. He asks Live Nation at the end of his article to make sure Gyllene Tider and the fans get a finale they deserve. At Ullevi.

Oh well. Fredrikstad is on Friday, 9th August. The distance to Gothenburg is only 210 km. So why not a finale at Ullevi on Saturday, 10th August? Or if not 3 gigs in a row, then OK, it can also be Sunday, 11th August. Who else is in for that? Or… Can 60,000 people fit in anywhere in Halmstad? 😉

Pic by Patrícia Peres taken at Ullevi, Gothenburg on 12th July 2013 

Per Gessle and Micke Syd Andersson on TV4 about the GT farewell tour

Per and Micke Syd appeared as guests on TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon and were interviewed by Jenny Strömstedt about the upcoming Gyllene Tider farewell tour. Watch it HERE!

When Jenny welcomed the guys, she noticed that they were wearing black clothes and asked if it is kind of grieving the ending of the band. Per and Micke Syd said nah, they are tough. Haha. Micke Syd said they were Sweden’s kindest pop band in the 80’s, so they are working on becoming tough.

Jenny asked what the fans think about the fact that it’s going to be Gyllene Tider’s last tour. Per replied that there are a lot of reactions. Micke Syd started singing Här kommer alla känslorna, but Per told him it’s not a GT song. Micke Syd said but it fits. Mr. G continued answering that GT means so much to a lot of people and it’s awesome. Micke Syd joined in and said fans say for example that their songs are the soundtrack to their lives. They grew up with Gyllene Tider. Per said it’s mainly their 80’s songs that he wrote when he was 19-22 years old. Back then he wouldn’t have thought they would be on a 40th anniversary farewell tour.

Then a short part of Parkliv tour film was shown and after that Micke Syd told the story that even if they beeped out the sound when Per told the phone number of Micke Syd’s mum’s hairdresser salon in the film, fans could read Mr. G’s lips and Micke’s mum got angry by constantly getting tons of calls after that. Jenny asked what the fans wanted. Micke Syd said ”talking to me” and Per joked ”having their hair cut”. Haha. Jenny asked how it worked with the fans back then. Both Micke and Per said they all lived with their parents and it was quite strange when fans were hanging around their houses. They were stealing washed clothes for example. Per said when he turned 21 he got 3400 mails, so his mum’s house was full of them. They also mentioned they had to check in at hotels on different names,picking different names each time. But of course, over the years it got calmer and the guys in GT also grew up and could handle it better. Jenny said that everyone tells about GT that they are like everyday people and so nice. The guys agree that they are nice.

Jenny mentioned that back in the days there were 2 big bands, Gyllene Tider and Noice in Sweden. They talked about the differences and Per said Noice was a big town band, while GT was a small town band. Micke Syd said this fact also determined that they had different mentality.

Per told that the band broke up in 1985 and since then they have always been doing something together on project basis. Like in 1996 or 2004 or 2013. The guys said they have a unique sound and when they play together it’s fantastic. They can’t put their finger on what it is about that uniqueness, but it’s like them 5 become 1 then. Per said when he plays GT songs with other musicians, they don’t sound like Gyllene Tider at all. There is a special style they have in GT and it shows up only when they 5 are playing together.

Jenny asked what the roles are in the band and if Per is the boss. Per said nah, he comes always as the last. Micke Syd told things are changing, but there are of course things that haven’t changed in the band. They also talked about how they play a song from 1980 these days. Micke Syd said they become young again on the inside despite the fact that he will soon turn 60. Per’s reaction to that was ”60?! Shit!” Haha. Jenny asked if it is the same feeling to sing about love now, when they are a little bit older. Per said when you sing a song you also act. Of course, when there is a song you wrote when you were 19 and sing it when you are suddenly not 19 anymore the song becomes different, it gets another meaning.

Per said GT is loved by so many people and one can’t take that for granted. It’s awesome to look back on their 40 years history. Micke Syd said there are so many memories related to their songs one can also see that on fans’ faces on the concerts.

At the end of the interview Jenny asked the most important question, if the guys can guarantee that this will really be a last time they go on tour again. Micke Syd nodded and Per replied ”it feels like that”. Jenny said it was quite a diplomatic answer.